PLANT COMMUNITIES: SEASONAL CHANGES. 333 



These are carried to the now swelling buds where formative 

 processes and growth elongate the shoot and expand the leaf. 

 Buds long wrapped in winter sleep toss back the protecting 

 scales. In a multitude of ways the different shrubs and trees 



Fig. 274. 

 Opening buds of hickory. 



now discard the winter armature which has served so good a 

 purpose, and tiny bud leaves show a multitude of variations 

 from simple bud scale to perfect leaf, a remarkable diversifica- 

 tion in which the plant from lateral members of the stem forms 



